Life-boat-launching apparatus.



E. G. PERROT.

LIFE BOAT LAUNGHING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION IILL'D MAY 21, 1912. 1,035,464. Patented Aug. 13,1912.

3 SHEETSSHEET 1.

FILE-.1

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WEED M l qhtmeooco B. G. PERROT. LIFE BOAT LAUNGHING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 21, 191".

Patented Aug. 13, 1912.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

qwituqmeo 21M! WW.

E. G. PERROT.

LIFE BOAT LAUNCHING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 21,1912.

1,035,464, Patented Aug. 13, 1912.

3 SHEBTS-SHEBT 3.

FIG. 4

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EMILE G. PERROT, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

LIFE-BOAT-LAUNGHING APPARATUS.

To. all whom it may concern: I Be it known that I, EMILE G. PnRnoT, citizen of the United States, and resident of Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia,

and State of Pennsylvania, have invented an Improvement in Life-Boat-Lmunchine Apparatus, of which thefoll'owing isa specification.

My invention has reference to life-boat launching apparatus and consists of certain improvementswhich are fully set-forth in the following specification and shown in the accompanying drawings which form a part thereof.

Heretofore. it has been customary to launch life-boats from davits in a laborious and slow manner, restricting the number of boats which can be handled from a given portion of the deck, as there is seldom more than one or two boats intended, to be launched from one set of davlts. The

difliculty of storing and handling a large loss of life, in times of disaster has been the result.

The object of my invention is to provide a system of storing and launching life-boats .on large ships which shall provide adequate life saving apparatus in a'limited space on the decks of the ship and also to establish capacity for safe launching of the lite-boats in rapid succession.-

My object is, further, to concentrate the life saving apparatus at definite and restricted portions of the ship, so that no confusion will arise from lack of cooperation on the part of the officers and crew which has heretofore been due to wide separation and extended area of the life-boat distribution, and from the failure of the passengers of knowing inwhat directions to go to secure the attention to which they are entitled.

My invention consists more especially of two main features of improvement, namely, means for stering the life-boats in large numbers in limited space with provisionfor separately handling them when necessary and means comprising an elevator having a cradleguided atthe side of the ship and cables and power devices for raising and Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 21, 1912.

the

Patented Au". 13,1912.

Serial No. 698,688.

tion embodies guideways, attached to the outer sides of the ship and extending from or near the water line to the life-boat deck and terminating near the stored life-boats, combined with an elevator carriage shaped to act as a cradle for receiving a life-boat and having guiding devices for the guideways, cables and power devices for raising and lowering the carriage and cradle, and means guiding them separately in succession into cradle preliminary to launched.

My invention further consists in furnish: ing each end of the life-boats with projecting portions and providing guid'cways receiving said projecting )ortions for. sup; porting and guiding the life-boats in their delivery to the lowering cradle, said means preferably permitting the rocking or partial rotation of the boat, whereby the boats may be nested and supported while turned stood by reterence to the drawings, in

which Figure 1 is a cross section of a ship having my improvements applied thereto: Fig.

tion of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a front elevation of a portion of the deck of a ship with my improvements applied thereto: Fig. 4; is a plan view of the cradle and platform with a lifeboat in position; Fig. 5 is an elevation with part in section showing the side of the elevator platform as it is leaving the guides atthe bottom; Fig. (3 is a detail view showing how the end of thclit'c-boats are supportcd in the guidcways; Fig. 7 is a portion of the their being- 2 is an enlarged View of the right-hand poi there are a plurality of decks 8 and the life 50 tr1c or other motor.

elevator guid'ewa-ys adjacent to the top; big.

8 is a cross section sho'wing how the elevator platform is guided in the guideways; and

boat. or hurricane deck 4. Upon the sides of the ship and extending from the life-boat deck to or near the water, I arrange the launching devices and to prevent confusion I will confine my description to the said devices located atone side only since the con struction on botli sides is the same.

f7 arevertical guideways of channel shape with the open sides directed toward each other. These guideways are preferably I curved away from each other at thebottom,

the curvature beingshown in Fig; 5; and they may terminate at a distance above the water line, so that they will not strike a wharf when in'dock. I, however, do not limit myself as tot-he distance down the sides of the ship to which these guideways shall extend. At their upper ends, these ,guideways 7 are curved inward as at 6 and terminate in the obhque portions 5. Guided on these guideways is the carriage 9 'wlnch is provided with rollers 10 to hold the carriagefrom moving away from the side of the-ship and rollers 11 which prevent endwise movement of the carriage in the guideways. These guide rollers and channel shaped "guideways will insure the proper guidance of thecarriage even if the ship is listed .or down atthe bow or stern. The carriage 9 is further provided with the cradle 12 shaped to receive the life-boat 17 and also with a platform 13 which is of a shape in plan to approximately fit to the gunw'aleof the boat, as shown in Fig. 4. The carriage 9 is supported by cables 1-1 which are guided about guide wheels 21, 22'

' and 28 and wound up or paid out by hoist ing apparatus 20 which may be of any ordinary construction and operating by an elec- The cables l l are preferably connected with the carriage at a distance from the plane of its guide rollers 10 and 11 and somewhat beyond the center of gravity thereof when unloaded, consequently the guide wheels 23 are arranged above the vertical parts of the guideways and at a distance away from the curved parts 6 of the guideways somewhat less than the dis tance of connection of the cables with the carriage from the guidewa-ys, so that said connection may pass freely above the guide wheel when the carriage is being elevated about the curved parts 6 of the guideways to assumethe position illustrated in solid lines v more a clearly indicated in Figs. 2 and of the boats have been launched, 1;

in Fig. 2; Oblique braces 14* may be em-' ployed between the cables 14 andthe inner portions of the carriage, as indicated in Fig. 2, the purpose of which is to holdthe carriagc from tilting downward on its inner side or that next to the ship when the car-- riage-has passed below the guideways 7 as for instance, when it assumes a position indicated in dotted lines where it has justallowed the life-boat to float on the water. \Vhen the carriage is descending with its life-boat 17, it is positively guided by the guideways 7 until it passes beyond the lower part 8 thereof, and then it runs against the surface-of the ships side, and from the connection of the, cables near the center of gravity and the employment of the bracing cables H the carriage descends into the water and leaves the life-boat floating upon the surface thereof. Upon the life-boat being pushed away, the carriage is again elevated andruns up against the surface of the side of the ship and enters the curved guideways 8 and thence into the vertical portions to once tsume the elevated position indicated in Fig.3 to receive the next life-boat in the cradle and complete the operation of launching just carried out with the previous boat.

The life-boats may besupported in any suitable and convenient mannerfor delivering them to the cradle of the elevator carriage, but in the preferred arrangement, and

that which I have herein particularly illus trated, I nest a number of life-boats one into the other and support them on their sides and with theoutermost life-boat resting in the cradle of the elevator carriage, as is These life-boats are each provided on their ends with extensions preferably in the form of rollers 18 which fit into grooved guideways 15, the gij'ooves of which are T-shaped, as

indicated in Fig. (5, so that the rollers 18 are locked therein and can only move longitudinally through said guideways until they are liberated from the end thereof. These guideways may be provided with a plurality of apertures in which pins 16 may be placed for holding each of the life-boats against movement in a downwardly and outwardly direction until after the pins are withdrawn, This is clearly illustrated in Figs. 2, 3 and 9. The life-boats may be supported at the bottom on any suitable frame-work, so that normally they are resting in a half turned over position, clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2, namely a position which adapts them to p be readily received in the cradle of the elevator carriage which. is to lower them into the water. After the first boat is lowered, the carriage is next pulledto bring the. cradle in contact with the bottom of the next boat, the pins 16 thereof are then removed, and the boat is launched, and so onuntil all :5 l v above the upper saloon or house portion a further support for additional lifeboats. Inthis case, the further supports are indi- The carriage and its cradle may be raised and lowered with great rapidity and with accuracy and absolute safety to the passengers. It will be understood that-if desired the carriage and cradle may have their upward movement in the position illustrated in solid lines in Fi 2, and the plurality of boats successively liberated by withdrawing the pins 16 at each end and moving said boats in succession downward upon the cradle, this operation being done by hand.

Where a large number of boats is required and itis desiredto -employ as few of the launching devices at the sides of the .vessel as possible, I- may provide on the deck cated at 25 and in Figs. 1 and 2, and are made as continuations of the grooved guide- Ways'15 for the boats at each side of the ship, said guideways being connected over the deck passages or promenades 26 so as not, to obstruct the freedom .of the passen-' gers and crew passing along the life-boat deck 4:. When these additional life-boats 17 are supported on the guideways'or supports, they may be moved down one at a time across the bridging guideways 15 and into the cradle of the elevator carriage.

One of said life-boats is indicated in dotted,

.lines in the act; of being transferred over the passage or promenade 26. It is also evident that by employing these continuous grooved supporting guideways from one side of the ship to the other, as clearly indicated in 'Fig. 1, any number of the boats may be launched fro-m either side desired,

or if. from anyreason one of the launching" devices was put out of operative condition, 'all of the life-boats could be transferred to the other side and launched from that side. It is also evident that should the listing of the vessel be too great upon one side to properly operate the launching devices or should that side of the vessel be obstruct-ed "to-prevent the proper lowering of the boats,

distinct launching apparatus for each one.v

I have shown my improvements in the form which I consider best adapted for the purposes of t-heiinventio-n, and while I pre-v fer the details shown, I, do hot restrict myself thereto, as they maybe modified in various ways without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having now, described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In apparatus for launching life-boats, the combination of the ship with a guideway extending downward upon the outside thereof and curved inward over the deck at the top, a launching carriage guided on each of said guideways at alplurality of places so as to be movablethereon with great stability and fromthe upper part of the ship down to and below the surface of the water and provided with outwardly extending means for receiving and supporting a lifeboat by its own gravity, cables and power devices for raising and'lowering the launching carriage, means separate from the guideways for the carriage for supporting a life-- boat adjacent to and above the upper end of the guideways, and a 1ife-boat supported by said supporting means andarranged in position to be readily received upon the out-- wardly extending means for recelving it carried by the launching carriage when'said way extending downward upon the outside thereof and at its upper end curved over and inward to aposition above the deck, a launching carriage guided on said guideways so as to-be movable from the upper .partof the ship over the deck down to and below the surface of the water and provided with means for receiving and supporting a life-boat by its own gravity, cables and power devices for raising and lowering the launching carriage and independent of the life-boat, means for supporting a life-boat adjacent to the upper end of the guideways 1 and over the deck of the vessel, a life-boat supported by said supporting means and arranged in position over the deck and having its bottom arranged to be readily received upon the means for receiving it carried by the launching carriage when moved up to the boat, and detachable means; for holding the life-boat against shifting upon its support but enabling it to be quickly detached when it is to be launched by the launching carriage and its operating mechamsm.

3. In apparatusfor launching life-boats,

having a cradle for supporting a life-boat movable on'said guideways and when in its uppermost position acting as a support for the stored life-boats, hoisting cables and power devices for 'raising'and lowering the ends-of each of the .lifcboats into the supporting guides for susta; ng the boats in position to be successively delivered to the cradle of the launching carriage.

4. In apparatus for launching life-boats, the combination-of a ship with guideways on its outer. side-extending from at or'ne'ar the water to the'life-boat deck and curved inwardly at the top, alaunching. carriage having a cradle for supporting a life-- boa't movable on said lguideways and when I the combination of a ship, vguideways upon in its uppermost position acting as a support for the stored life-boats, hoisting cables and power devicesfor raising and lowering the launching carriage upon its guideways, a

. plurality of life-boats nested one within the other for normal storage, supporting guides secured to the ship at each end of the nested life-boats, means extending from the ends of each of the life-boats into the supporting guides for sustaining the boats in position to be successively delivered to thecradle of the'launching carriage, and independent means for holding the several life-boats against shifting upon the supporting guides y when the launching carriage is in the act oflowering the outermost life-boat or .is re. turning from such launching for the next;

- boat.

5. Inapparatus for launching life-boats,

- the combination of a ship with'guideways on its outer side extending from at or near the water to-the life-boat deck and curved inwardly at the top, a launching carriage having a cradlefor supporting a life-boau movable on said uideways and when inits uppermost position acting as .a support for the stored lifeboats, hoisting cables and power devices for raising. and lowering the launching carriage upon its guideways said cables being secured to the carriage at a dis tarice from the connection thereof with the. guideways, guide wheels arranged at a dis-;

tance above the guideways at their upper curved parts for normally guiding the cable when the carriage is beingq aised or lowered said guide wheels being arranged a shorter distance from the guideways than the dis- "tance between. theconnection'ofthe 'cables' '55 with the carriage and the guideways whereby said connection with the carriage may.

pass'clear of the guide wheels when said carriage is passing about the upper curved portion of the guideways, a plurality oflifa boats nested one within the other for normal.

storage, supporting guides secured to the ship at each end of the nested life-boats, and

means extending from the. ends of each of the life-boats into the supporting guides for sustaining the boats in position to be succesriage. I 8. In apparatus for launching life-boats, aship provided. with a supporting frame at each side'thereof having guideways for sup sively delivered to the cradle of the launch ing carriage.

6, In apparatus for launching life-boats,

the combination of a ship with upright guideways upon its outer sides, a vertically movable launching carriage having a cradle about the level of the-gunwale of the lifeboat and said carriage guided on the guide ways,'cables for raising and lowering the said carriage,,a life-boat adapted to be sup-j ported in the cradle, and permanent means adjacent to the upper end of the guideways for supporting the life-boat in position to be' sol delivered on the cradle of the carriage,

7. In apparatus for launching life-boats,

for -a life-boat and also a platform at or I the outer sides of-the ship, a launching car- I boat and also with a platform having. a

shape and positioned so as-to approximately, fit to the gunwaleof the life-boat, cables for raising and lowering the carriage, and

a life-boat detachably supported on the car'- porting and guiding a plurality of lifeboats, and means ateach side of the ship for launching the said life-boat's comprising guideways extending upward on the side of the ship and curved over atthe top and terminating at a lower level than the supportingframes for the lifesboats, a carriage having guiding means engaging said guide ways and also having a crhdle for receivinga life-boat, cables. for raising and lowering the carriage and causing it}: to travel over the curved portions of the ideway's at-the top so as to come over the eck of the vessel, 'combined witha middle'supporting frame arranged adjacent to the middle lon' gitudinal portion o'f'the ship for supporting 4 a plurality of additional life-boats, and

to each of the guideways of the supporting frames at the sides of the ship and at a dis 'tance-above the deck whereby the life-boats supported on the middle supports maybe transferredto either side of the ship and] launched by the launching devices thereof,

or in -which all of the life-boats from the middle and both'sides of the ship may be launched from one side of the .ship only should such be necessaryi- 9. In apparatus for launching lifeboats, the boat provided withtw'o' vertical grooved guides arrang d uponthe outside of the boatv and extending down the side thereof and having their upper ends curved inward and j obliquely upward over the deck, in: oombination with. guidingsupports arranged guides? extending from the middle supports I Sit-f.

ranged between the grooved guide'ways and provided with guiding devices extending into the grooves of said guldeways and also provided with an outwardly directed and laterally projecting cradle structure for supporting a life-boat to one side of the carriage, a life-b0at adapted to the cradle and free to liberate itself when the carriage and cradle descend below the surface of the Water on being lowered, and cables and power devices therefor for lowering the carriage-and cradle to a position below the level of the water to free the life-boat by its own buoyancy when it strikes the water. 10. In apparatus for launching life-boats,-

the boat provided with two vertical grooved guides arranged upon the outside of the boat and extending down the side the'reot andhaving their upper ends curved inward and obliquely upward over the deck, in combination with guiding supports arranged above the upper ends oi? the grooved gnideways and terminating to one side of the plane of the side of the boat for sumaorting the lite-boats, a launching carriage arranged between the grooved guideways and provided with guiding devices extending into the grooves of said. guideways and also pro vided with an outwardly directed and laterally projecting cradle structure for supporting a life-boat to'one side of the carriage, a lifeboat adapted to-the cradle and free to liberate itself when the carriage and cradle descend below the surface of the Water on being lowered, cables and power devices theretor :tor lowering the carriage and cradle to a position below the level of the water to free the life-boat by its own buoyancy when ,it strikes the water, a plurality ofother life-boats, means on all of the lifeboats for engaging the guiding supports. for holding the life-boats normally above the deck and the guideways when not being launched, and separate means for liberating each of the lifeboats from the others'whcn it is to be lowered by the launching carriage and its cradle.

11. In apparatus for launching life-boats, the combination with the vessel, of grooved guides extending down upon the outside thereof and curved over at the top above the deck, supporting means for a plurality of life-boats arranged above the curved upper end of the guides, a launching carriage guided by the grooved guides and provided with a laterally projecting cradle structure arranged to one side of the frame and adapted to receive the life-boats in succession, and means for raising and lowering the launching carriage and its cradle whereby the cradle is brought upward and over the boats side and into position adjacent to the bottom of the boat to be launched and when-lowered. to pass downward below the surface or the water to leave the life-boat tloat on the water in an automatic manner. In testimony of which invention, I hereunto set my hand.

EMILE G. PERROT. Witnesses R. M. Hcxrnn, It. M. KELLY. 

